


Emergency Backup Qrow

by pidgeonpostal



Series: The RWBY Hockey AUs [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hockey, Bad Goalie Innuendo, Emergency Backup Goalie, M/M, Qrow is an EBUG, rated for swearing mostly, rated for sweaty hockey players partly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26666368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pidgeonpostal/pseuds/pidgeonpostal
Summary: Qrow is the Emergency Backup Goalie (EBUG) for a game between the Haven Hunters and the Atlas Aces. It's a nice way to watch a game for free, and EBUGs usually never have to do anything.Usually.[Qrow has to jump in as an emergency goalie against Clover and his team in the Remnant Hockey League. It goes better than expected.]
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: The RWBY Hockey AUs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2016287
Comments: 16
Kudos: 48





	Emergency Backup Qrow

For about forty-five minutes of game time, Qrow thought he might have actually had a bit of good luck.

He got a call from the Vale Hunters’ office the morning of, asking if he could sit in the press box for that night’s game. It was standard procedure, they explained, to ask a local league goalie to be on standby in case something happened to both of a team’s goalies, and their usual picks were unavailable. Something about having any goalie being better than no goalie, though the chances of anything actually happening were slim. But the ticket was free, and his kids had a night off from practice anyway, so he agreed and got to watch a damn good game against the Atlas Aces.

Then, of course, the Hunters’ goalie got their skate caught up in a player, and went down _hard._

Suddenly the press box was a flurry of motion, and Qrow found himself being led down to the locker rooms. The team backup goalie, something had happened to the team backup goalie, they couldn’t play, and now he was signing something and someone was handing him a green Hunters jersey and—

The lights were so much brighter, on the ice. It made it hard to see the crowd, but he could hear them, feel the sound in his bones. The jumbotron flashed and he looked up through his helmet, his goddamn _Beacon University Strikers_ helmet.

_Atlas Aces - 3. Vale Hunters - 4. 3rd period, 14:59 remaining._

_EMERGENCY BACKUP GOALIE:_

_13 - QROW BRANWEN._

The puck dropped.

Qrow couldn’t say what happened, moment to moment. He only remembered pieces, later. A shot from the blue line directly to his chest, his first block of the night. He held the puck in his hand for a moment, trying to absorb the fact that it was a _professional league puck_ that an _Atlas Ace_ had shot at him, before handing it off to the referee.

A second time, a pass flew across his vision, and he dropped low into full splits as he slid to deflect the shot. Someone on his team shouted happy expletives. Someone else nearby whistled, long and low, and another someone told them to shut it. Above them all, the crowd roared its approval.

Qrow would block a shot, watch the puck fly to the other side of the ice, and have just long enough while his team was on offense to stop and absorb the mental image of the Atlas player who took the shot, their face flicking down to the puck and back up to stare directly at Qrow. It was exhilarating, to be the target of that stare, and when he heard them shout in frustration he couldn’t help but grin.

He was an EBUG, he shouldn’t even be here. But if they wanted to get past him, he was damn well going to make them work for it.

Fifteen minutes came and went and the buzzer sounded, and Qrow thought the crowd couldn’t get any louder but he was wrong, so wrong. The echo off the arena walls made him shake. The pounding of the music synced to the beat of his heart. The game had ended the way it had started for him, a 4-3 win, and he was nearly crushed by a rush of players he’d seen only on streams or through the glass that now separated him from what ought to have been reality.

The press asked him questions in the locker room. How did it feel? He didn’t know. What had it been like? Bright, loud.

“How did it feel to take a shot from Clover Ebi?”

Qrow remembered that one. Fast as hell and through a crowded zone, but he saw it coming and caught it on a skate, just barely. “Guess he just got unlucky,” he smirked. They laughed and eventually dispersed.

Players came by to ruffle Qrow’s hair and congratulate him, which was awful, or to slap him on the shoulder and congratulate him, which was marginally better, before heading down the hallway out of the arena, until only a few were left. In the resulting quiet, Qrow heard the sound of soft footsteps coming towards them. “Are the press gone?” someone asked from the hallway.

From Qrow’s position, they were blocked by a wall, but Port’s stall was near the door, and he glanced up and seemed to recognize them. Port chuckled. “Got a lot of nerve showing your face here. Didn’t feel beaten enough?”

“Just here to offer some congratulations.”

Goodwitch looked about ready to tell them where to shove their congratulations, but Ozpin held up a hand to stop her. “Let him in,” he said, that famous glint in his eyes.

The adrenaline still hadn’t worn off, and Qrow dropped abruptly from euphoria to a sudden sense of foreboding. That was the look Ozpin got setting up Goodwitch for a perfect power play goal. Qrow had seen it on highlight reel after highlight reel. Ozpin knew something. Qrow immediately looked around for any sign of a prank.

Instead, _Clover Fucking Ebi,_ Captain of the Atlas Aces, best center in the whole damn Remnant Hockey League, walked in the door with his hands up. “Scout’s honor, not here to start anything,” he smiled, and that was as much as Qrow heard before he realized two things.

First, that Clover Ebi had shucked his pads, but he was still in his game day undershirt and leggings, drenched in sweat and hot as sin and now would be a great, great time to black out and fast forward again, to a point in time where Qrow did not have to think about being in a room with Clover Fucking Ebi.

The second thing was that this walking fantasy had turned and was walking towards Qrow’s stall and had already said something that Qrow had completely missed.

Dazed and loose, Qrow guessed what it might have been. “Thanks," he said. "Unexpected night.” At the very least, his voice came out fairly even, didn’t crack or anything. He might just survive this. He even managed a kind of smile, shaky with nerves but passable.

Ebi smirked, which Qrow wasn’t sure how to interpret. Had he guessed the question wrong? “Blocked a couple of hard shots,” Ebi said instead of clarifying. Up close, his hair was plastered down to the top of his head, his cheeks were still pink from exertion, and it was getting really, awfully hard for Qrow to think of anything that wasn’t about either of those two things.  
  
Qrow shrugged to give himself time to think of something normal to say. “I’ve had harder.”

Fuck.

Ebi’s eyebrows shot up. Past him, Qrow swore he heard someone snort. “That so,” Ebi said carefully. It looked like he was trying not to grin. “Well, I’ll have to step up my game for the next time we play each other. It was nice to meet you, Qrow.” And he held out his hand.

In a daze, Qrow shook Clover Ebi’s hand, still reeling at hearing him say his name. “Uh. Likewise, Mr. Ebi.”

“Clover, to you. We’re coworkers now.” Clover said, and winked.

By the time Qrow’s heart restarted, Clover had already left.

There was a brief, blessed moment of silence.

Oobleck, in the stall on his right, clapped his shoulder before standing up to leave. “Well, that seems to be going swimmingly!”

“What?” Qrow turned to stare at him.

Oobleck stared back, and Qrow felt like he was being analyzed. “It seemed to go well. As I’ve heard the saying goes, ‘shoot your shot.’” And with that, he walked out.

Qrow watched him go, then looked down at his hand. There was a scrap of note paper in it with a phone number scrawled on it in sharpie.

When he looked up again, Ozpin was smiling at him from across the room.

**Author's Note:**

> This was based on some [delightful WIP art by afoolforatook](https://afoolforatook.tumblr.com/post/629939761426087936) and the idea of Qrow as an EBUG was inspired by a [delightful real story of an emergency backup goalie,](https://ingoalmag.com/news/36-year-old-ebug-scott-foster-makes-seven-stops-blackhawks-thursday-night-win) who admitted that he sort of "blacked out" while playing the actual game. Stressful situations are just like that, I suppose.
> 
> This literally got me up and writing again to a completed work for the first time in a long long time. Which of course means I might not actually be done with it, haha! Might write more of this, or just more hockey AU things.
> 
> Oh god I hope I proofread enough I don't have a beta I'm sorry


End file.
